“When is aunt Jolie coming to pick me up tomorrow?” Jayce asked Blake, cuddling up against his father’s body after Blake read his bedtime story to him.
It was the first week in December and it had been four months since Stacy left him and four months since she and Jake had died in a plane crash on their way from Las Vegas to Spain.
“I’m not sure, but she should come later in the day after you return from school.” He told Jayce, who had been so clingy since the departure of his mother. For now, what the little boy believed was that his mom was just on a trip when her plane crashed. Blake wanted him to believe that until he grows up and can hear the actual truth.
“Are you having a change of mind?” Blake lifted him onto his legs. “Do you want me to tell aunty Jolie not to come pick you up?”
Blake’s mom wanted to host all her four grandkids for the weekend. This she always does about four or five times in a year. Jolie was going to pick Jayce up tomorrow Friday and drop him off with her mother there, along with her kids.
“Will you still be here when I come back on Sunday night?” The little boy asked fearfully.
“Of course,” he smiled into his eyes. “I will always be here for you any time, punky.”
“Okay,” he nodded. “If you travel, you are going to come back, right?”
“Yes, definitely,” he kissed the top of his head. “You have nothing to worry about. Daddy will always be here. Remember, I traveled two weeks ago and here I am now, with you.”
He nodded again, “okay daddy. I will go to Grandma and Grandpa’s house tomorrow.”
“Yes, that’s my boy,” he gave him a high five. “Never forget, daddy loves you so much.”
“And you won’t go anywhere like mummy did?”
“No. I will always be here.”
“Thank you, Daddy,” he wrapped his little arms around his father’s neck. “I love you too.”
Blake’s heart contracted with the love for his child. It always pained him he that the little boy had to experience the loss of his mother at such a tender age.
“Can I sleep here?” he asked sleepily, snuggling into his father’s chest. “Will you put me back into bed when I sleep off?”
“Yeah punky,” he ruffled his hair. “Go ahead, daddy will put you in bed.”
“Goodnight, daddy,” he mumbled into his father’s chest.
“Goodnight, punky,” he whispered back.
Jayce started snoring gently, not long after. Blake waited twenty minutes before putting him in bed. He kissed his forehead as he tucked the sheets over his body. He left Jayce’s room and walked down the staircase.
The housekeeper, Paula, a new one that had just started work a few months before Stacy left, was already putting off the major lights and drawing the curtains for the night.
“Can I get you anything, Mr. Carter?” the matronly woman asked.
“No. Nothing, I am alright, thank you Paula.” He replied.
“Goodnight, sir,” she said, walking towards the hallway.
“Goodnight,” Blake said over his head, strolling to the bar. He picked a bottle of whiskey and poured himself more than a generous amount. He had been drinking heavily since Stacy left.
He took a seat on the bar high stool.
Stacy did exactly as she said she would. Five days after she won the contract she was pursuing for the company, she walked into Blake’s study. She put the divorce papers before him on his desk and told him calmly that she was tired of the marriage and wanted a divorce.
“A divorce?” All the blood drained from Blake’s face. “A divorce?” He had asked, “Where is this coming from?”
“You know for sure that we were both forced into this marriage?” She folded her hands on her chest and said. “I’m not happy here. I need to go. Sign the divorce papers, please.”
He said nothing, waiting for her to say it was all a joke. But it was not.
“You need to go?” He stood up. “Where are you going?”
“It’s none of your business, Blake,” she replied. “Just sign the damn papers. I never loved.”
“Of course,” he put his hands in his pockets. “Yes, but I thought we have both made the best of the situation we find ourselves in over the years.”
“Blake, I can’t continue with this charade anymore,” she whispered.
“Really Stacy? This has all been a charade for you?”
“Yes, Blake,” she tucked away, strayed strands of hair behind her ear. “It has been a charade and I can’t pretend I’m happy anymore. I’m going away with the man I love.”
“The man you love?” He set his hands on the edge of his desk. “The man you love?”
“Yes, it’s Jake,” she replied defiantly. “If you must know.”
“Jake?” His legs started shaking. “Are you talking about the same Jake?”
“Yes, Blake,” she held the pen out to him. “Here, sign it. It’s the same Jake.”
“You are sleeping with Jake?” He breathed rapidly through his mouth. It was as if something was sucking off the air in the room. “Oh, my God Stacy. I…I thought he’s just your boss and a sort of a mentor to you. So you’ve been sleeping with him?”
“Yes, I have been sleeping with him since I was in college,” she looked away. “I am in love with him. In fact, I cheated on him by marrying you.”
“I won’t sign those!” He bellowed with uncommon anger, pointing at the papers on his desk. “What do you take me for…?” His nose flared. “A fool? No!”
He said angrily and matched out of his study.
She didn’t sleep in their room that night. After going back and forth for three days, he finally signed the papers, and she left.
Blake sued for the two companies to be demerged. The process was ongoing now, though the companies had started operating individually for the past two months.
Stacy and Jake got married in Las Vegas the day after they got there and stayed there for a month. They were going to Spain, where they had agreed to settle down and start a marketing firm when their plane crashed. They were among the eleven people that lost their lives in the incident.